bigger in texas?

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

It's democracy Jim, but not as we know it.

 

[Tredman]

I have such a conflicted view of the US. Currently sat here drinking amazing beer with fantastic people, scenery and music. All the while knowing it’s literally the most racist place I’ve ever been. And I’m including South African and Belgium in that comparison

 

[Alan]

View attachment 14459

I have such a conflicted view of the US. Currently sat here drinking amazing beer with fantastic people, scenery and music. All the while knowing it’s literally the most racist place I’ve ever been. And I’m including South African and Belgium in that comparison

I hope the good finds a way to supersede the bad in your experiences here. It’s… well, it’s a big place. Too big, I might argue, but such is the way of Manifest Destiny (speaking of being violently racist)… Definitely a struggle at times to know how to keep my American-ness (although I’m lately leaning into the Sharpe method; “not American, North Carolinian”) part of my identity without being, well, ‘Murikan.

Whereabouts is that? Looks absolutely lovely.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Individual v collective.
Get it, keep it, not give a damn about anyone else. Even in a relatively poor city like San Antonio there are hundreds (thousands?) of gated communities. Contrast with people sleeping on the sidewalk, and at least 3 illegal homeless encampments within a mile of our house.

But despite living in an inhospitable small corner of the US, I don't think I could ever move back to England, and I don't really know why.

 

[Alan]

We are individualism gone mad, there's no doubt.

 

[Tredman]

I hope the good finds a way to supersede the bad in your experiences here. It’s… well, it’s a big place. Too big, I might argue, but such is the way of Manifest Destiny (speaking of being violently racist)… Definitely a struggle at times to know how to keep my American-ness (although I’m lately leaning into the Sharpe method; “not American, North Carolinian”) part of my identity without being, well, ‘Murikan.

Whereabouts is that? Looks absolutely lovely.

South Lake Tahoe. Like paradise but without the salt.

 

[Jack Regan]

If you go fishing on it, make sure there's more than just two of you.

 

[Alan]

South Lake Tahoe. Like paradise but without the salt.

View attachment 14468

Stunning. I’ve never been. Suppose that’s me convinced.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Just voted in a serious-ish U.S. election for the 1st time. Fuck, it's a challenge, but not in the way you would think.
It's primary season, so we voted for democratic candidates for the November elections. There are over SEVENTY elections/issues we could vote on. On paper that is 4 pages long!
Wife and I are fairly committed, but could count on the fingers of one hand the races we really care about. It is perfectly ok to just vote in one or two races, in which case you probably know the names you want to vote for, but with 70+ races it is impossible to remember everyone. So, firstly you go to the local government web page which tells you if you are registered to vote and which races you are eligible for. Then you select D or R (you can only vote one or the other in a primary), and you print out a sample ballot containing all the races and candidates. In some races the candidates are well known eg for US senator the main choices are Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico and we already knew who we prefer, but for others such as District Judge, 45th Judicial Court there is zero name recognition.
The San Antonio chapter of the League of Women Voters asks a series of questions to all candidates for all elections and lists their answers in a 100% impartial manner - which is good, but their booklet is 78 pages long. So my wife found a list of candidates endorsed by a local progressive leader, we marked their names on our sample ballots and headed out to vote.
Election day is in two weeks, but early voting is available to everyone, however not all precincts are open and we had to drive 6-8 miles to find one (you can vote at any local precinct).
After that it was easy - wait 5 minutes in line, provide drivers license, and take the sample ballot (or other paperwork) into the booth. Use a touch screen, print the results and submit into a tabulator.

In November it will all be different. No homework, just vote D or R across the board. On the other hand we may have to wait an hour or two in line even on early voting days. And that is assuming that neither the state or federal government does anything to make the process more difficult.

 

[Alan]

Shout outs, Denny. Non-Presidential elections are insane. It’s damn near impossible to properly investigate the deluge of candidates. Shit, I couldn’t even guess at what district of Mecklenburg County I’m in. Not least because the lines are constantly changing!

Can only imagine it’s even more overwhelming in Texas, given it’s about five times the size of North Carolina.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Congressional lines have just changed here, again. We are always in a D district so safe that I'm not sure if the Rs ever put up a challenger.
A mile away is the border into what was Chip Roy's district. Equally secure, but R.
Pointless even voting whichever you live in, but of course we must.
And this is why I hate the presidential election system. Outside of a swing state your vote is irrelevant.

 

[Alan]

Yeah, there’s plenty about the system that needs culling, full stop. The ability to change district boundaries at all feels… I dunno, ripe for abuse? And so it has proven; Gerrymandering was a term before the Industrial Revolution ffs.

I can’t deny, though, that I’m penniless about actually solving problems. It’s hard to imagine removing state boundaries from the process. And yet, you’re absolutely right. I should go back and look at the actual popular vote split in NC 2024 and Florida 2016 + 2020. In both Florida elections, Trump carried my county with greater than 75% of the vote. Mecklenburg has, to my memory, been consistently blue for a good number of years now. North Carolina is very much a state where the counties with universities go Dem and we just have to wait and see if enough rural counties are flirting with purple. The impact on farmers from these tariffs may see eastern North Carolina go bluer than it ever has. Here’s hoping.

The whole system needs revision at the very least. I’ve been, for a long time, the guy who said that the Constitution was outdated. Little did I realize how terribly that thought would be turned against me.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

I have always said that the biggest problem for US government is having a written constitution. We now live in a completely different world, one which the founding fathers could never have envisaged.
The core principles are mostly okay (not the 2nd amendment or the idea of an executive branch), but it was written for a world that no longer exists, and perpetual Supreme Court disagreements show just how limited its words are.

 

[Alan]

I’m putting “written for a world which no longer exists” in my pocket. Holy fuck, man, that’s a fuckin’ bar.

I believe you were just “spitting”, scientifically speaking.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Certain tenets are timeless, eg "of the people, by the people, for the people" or "liberty, equality, fraternity", but put into a constitution ideas become constricted by the written words around them.

Sounds profound, but yes, like you say, "just "spitting"".

 

[Alan]

I don’t mind having it all in a document, but treating it like the fucking Bible is absurd.

People entirely forget about the Articles of Confederation. The Founding Fathers almost certainly couldn’t have gotten their first take on nationhood more wrong. This country was willing to rip up the foundation once, and it’s past time we did so again. Just, uh, not quite as we are doing now.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

While I am at it - the constitution and the executive branch. Please correct me if i am wrong, but this is how it appears.

The US constitution was written at a time when other countries were run by an unelected king. The concept of "L'etat, c'est moi" was still prevalent. So the founding fathers chose what they believed to be the only alternative - an elected and temporary head of state/government.

Since then, other countries have discovered that a monarch is unnecessary and that a democratically elected government can work just fine. That there can be a difference between head of state and head of government.

The Speaker of the House should be first/prime minister and head of government. The elected president need only be a titular head of state.

The 'system of checks and balances' can operate just as well with just the legislative and judiciary branches. But because the written US constitution (which has always been perfect according to the right) gives certain powers to a president, those powers will remain until the end of time. Evolution is not permitted.

 

[Alan]

That's about as reasoned and accurate a take as I've seen from, well, I was going to say "immigrant" but that word has become so freighted that it feels kind of dirty. You know what I mean, I hope.

IIRC, the original system didn't have a concept of term limits for the President (God, I have no idea if I should be capitalizing that), and it was mostly borne out of George Washington having his own national cult of personality. As we're taught it, he was almost a religious figure in terms of reverence. Supposedly, it was his personal decision not to run for a third term (which everybody wanted him to do, they say), and all the politicians respected Washington so God damned much that the two term limit manifested itself without being codified.

I don't remember the specific language of the amendment, but I believe it was after FDR (shout outs to him, man) served his fourth term that the limit we have in place now was made law.

Addendum:

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States four times: 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. Prior to the third-term election of 1940, it was a presidential tradition set by George Washington that presidents only held the office for two terms. As a result of FDR's unprecedented four terms, the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1951, limiting all future presidents to two elected terms.

Source; FDR Presidential Library & Museum

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Please call me an 'immigrant'. I much prefer it to 'naturalized'